Harris pitches economic plan to Latino men
Plus: How white Christian nationalism has polluted American politics—and what you can do about it.
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! Welcome back to Once Upon a Hill. The election is in 13 days. Vice President Kamala Harris released an economic agenda for Latino men in the latest step to attract support from a demographic that could determine the election outcome in crucial swing states.
But before we get into the agenda's details, I wanted to draw your attention to a survey the Public Religion Research Institute released earlier this month on the election and challenges to American democracy.
Among the most alarming findings: Nearly one in five Republicans (19 percent)—including 23 percent of Republicans who have a favorable view of Donald Trump—say that if the former president loses the election, he should declare the results invalid and do whatever it takes to assume office (12 percent of Democrats feel Harris should do the same). It’s also worth noting that nearly half of Americans (49 percent) agree there is a real danger that Trump will use the presidency to become a dictator, compared to just 28 percent who hold similar concerns about Harris.
The survey comes on the heels of a new longform video essay from the progressive advocacy group People For the American Way on the threat of white Christian nationalism. This ideology defines the MAGA right and the belief among some of former President Trump’s supporters that political violence is justified as long as he reassumes power in power.
The video essay, produced in collaboration with political analyst and popular cultural influencer Kat Abughazaleh, explores themes including authoritarianism, political violence, bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, LGTBQ equality, education and religious pluralism. In the coming weeks, People For will release shorter video segments and accompanying resources on social apps, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and Threads, hoping to reach millions of Americans on the toxicity of white Christian nationalism—and the many ways it threatens American freedoms. (If you’re into interactives, there’s a quiz—“How to spot a white Christian nationalist”—to accompany the video essay.
I hopped on the phone with Peter Montgomery, research director at the progressive advocacy group People for the American Way and a leading expert on right-wing movements and the religious right, to discuss the video essay and more. Below is a free excerpt of our conversation:
What is the political goal of white Christian nationalism and how is it different from other political ideologies?
The goal of white Christian nationalism, simply put, is to spread the idea that America was founded by and for a certain kind of Christian—white European Christians—and that the country is meant to be theirs; they are meant to maintain power and to be the dominant force in our culture and politics.
The reason I think it is so powerful right now is that we are in a time in this country, when the country is becoming more diverse, when white evangelical Christians are no longer the majority, when white white Christians cannot presume to have dominance in our culture and politics. Some people find that very threatening, and some people—it angers them that they cannot presume to be the dominant force in politics.
And so the emergence of the religious right as a powerful religious movement in the late 1970s draws on our whole history in which the language of Christianity was abused and exploited to support slavery, to support Jim Crow, to support various kinds of white supremacy. Now, we see it used today to encourage voter suppression, to encourage attacks on the LGBTQ community, to try to strip women of bodily autonomy, all those things.
The rest of the Q&A is exclusive to paid subscribers. If you’re still on the free plan, upgrade to a paid subscription or start a seven-day free trial.
Vice President Harris’s Latino men’s agenda includes a proposal to double registered apprenticeships for Latino men and eliminate unnecessary college degree requirements for Latino men without college degrees for 500,000 jobs, which the campaign says will benefit up to two million workers. She has also committed to providing one million forgivable loans of up to $20,000 for Latino and other entrepreneurs, plus interest-free loans with deferred payments to build on the 40-percent small business ownership growth under the Biden administration, the fastest rate in three decades. And to respond to the affordable housing crisis, the vice president has set a goal to more than double the annual number of first-time homebuyers to nearly 600,000.
Harris unveiled the agenda on Tuesday evening in an interview with Julio Vaqueiro of Telemundo that aired across all of NBCUniversal’s national platforms, reaching 95 percent of Latino households in 210 markets. Democratic vice presidential nominee and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) will join El Bueno, La Mala, y El Feo, a syndicated radio show on Univision that reaches millions of Latinos nationwide. Meanwhile, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will tape an interview on El Free-Guey Show, a nationally syndicated afternoon radio program on Univision that will reach millions of Latino Americans across the country. Emhoff will also interview with Alex “El Genio” Lucas on Nueva Network Radio, a daily morning show syndicated across 72 stations and 43 markets.
The campaign said it would continue its outreach to Latino voters in the final days of the campaign, including a lowrider early vote event in Wisconsin, a horse parade early vote caravan in Las Vegas and food trucks in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Nevada. Congressional Hispanic Caucus members, Cabinet secretaries, and Latino influencers will also fan out across battleground states to organize at festivals and block parties and other culturally relevant events.
Cost-of-living issues—inflation, wages, housing and health care costs—remain among the top priorities for Latino men, according to a survey of 3,000 voters released by Latino civil rights and advocacy group UnidosUS last month.
And while Harris held a 28-point lead in support from Latino voters over former President Trump (59 percent to 31 percent) and Democrats were more trusted on priority issues overall than Republicans, more than a quarter of Latino voters do not clearly see either as a champion of their concerns, with 28 percent saying neither, both or don’t know which party would be better at addressing their priority issue. The agenda is a tangible effort to reach those voters.
The Latino men’s economic agenda follows the release of similar proposals for Black men from the campaign last week. In addition to the same number and amount of forgivable loans, Harris said as president she would create a national equity initiative to address health challenges that disproportionately affect Black men, including sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health and prostate cancer. The Black men’s agenda would also create feeder education, training and mentorship programs for high-demand industries, including public education, legalize recreational marijuana while addressing the racial disparities that marginalize Black people from accessing the economic benefits of the cannabis industry. It would also regulate cryptocurrency and other digital assets to protect Black men who invest in alternative forms of payment that use encryption algorithms.
Wednesday at a glance
The House and Senate are out.
President Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing.
Vice President Harris will travel to Pennsylvania and participate in a CNN town hall hosted by Anderson Cooper,
Gov. Walz will record local TV interviews with stations in North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania after making a local stop in St. Paul, MN. He will speak at a campaign fundraiser this evening in Louisville, KY.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will speak at the HLTH 2024 conference in Las Vegas this afternoon as part of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. She will then participate in two political events.
Second Gentleman Emhoff will speak at a Get Out the Early Vote rally in Hallandale Beach, FL and at a campaign reception.
Mrs. Gwen Walz will participate in local media interviews in Pennsylvania with WILK radio in Scranton, WICU/WSEE TV in Erie, and an Instagram live interview with Jessica Yellin for News Not Noise.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS
“It’s kind of an effort to portray nonwhite people as a threat”
Back to my conversation with People For’s Peter Montgomery, where he explains the difference between evangelical Christianity and white Christian nationalism, how Christian white nationalists obscure their racist words and actions, the impact members of Congress who traffic white Christian nationalism have on the legislative process and how opponents of the ideology can help lead the US beyond it. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Once Upon a Hill to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.